As adult honeybees are the producers of all the primary products of beekeeping, it is
unlikely that a beekeeper will sell these adult bees when he or she is interested in
production of primary products. Honeybees or their brood can however, constitute a primary
product, and may be sold directly or be processed for other uses. Beekeepers can make a
profit from selling their adult bees, often together with combs of larvae. Depending on
market conditions, they can sell their bees in the form of package bees, nuclei or small
starter hives and whole, full-size colomes

In many countries, bees are considered a nuisance when they nest in or near houses.
This is particularly true when they are among the more defensive types. In such cases,
beekeepers may be able to charge to remove the bees. If these bees are not used by the
beekeeper to strengthen his own operation and were not killed with pesticides, they can be
killed and fed to chicken or pigs. Otherwise, they can be composted. The same procedures
are even easier with the brood frames of such colonies. Both adults and larvae are a good
protein source.

In many African and Asian countries, brood combs are considered a delicacy and consumed
immediately when available (see Figure 8.1). They are also particularly rich in protein
since they usually contain quantities of beebread, i.e. the slightly fermented pollen
stores of the hive. In some Asian countries, worker or drone pupae (in their white stage)
are also prepared for human consumption by pickling or boiling. In canned form, they are
found in some European or American specialty stores and can be considered a value added
product, even if there is not much demand or a broad market perspective in the West.

8.2
The chemical composition of adult and larval honeybees

The chemical composition of mature and immature honeybees has not received as much
attention as that of some other primary products. Only data with few details can
consequently be presented (Table 8.1). The data for adult bees has been adapted in order
to be comparable to the fresh weight data of immature bees. A 1 % glycogen content was
estimated rather than the 9.08% sugar content found in the samples in the original
analysis, which was probably due to honey in the bees' digestive tracts. On this basis,
adults and immatures have very similar protein values. In adults, over 40% of the protein
comes from the muscular tissue of the thorax, which is similar in protein to egg-white.

The major use of larval and adult bees is undoubtedly that made by the beekeeper for
the production of primary bee products. While both can also be considered primary
products, the production of complete colonies, starter colonies and packages of bees or
queens, are usually not considered as beekeeping !?productst (see Figure 8.2).
On the other hand, these activities can produce a considerable amount of additional
income, or constitute a whole line of business on their own. A growing beekeeping
industry, or growing interest in beekeeping, usually creates a demand for these products.

Their production requires hardly any additional investment if operated on a small scale
and profitable sales can be made even if sold one-by-one. However, in many village
environments in particular, sales communication between customer and producer often needs
to be facilitated by an organization or extension service. A description of how to produce
queens, package bees, divide and build-up colonies etc. can be found in all good
beekeeping textbooks and manuals. The interested reader is urged to consult these.

Table 8.1:
Composition of mature and immature honeybees compared to beef and soybeans
(in % of fresh weight; vitamins in International Units per g fresh weight) modified
from Crane, 1990.

Honeybee

Beef

Soybeand

Mature larvae

Pupae

Adulta

Water

77.0

70.2

72.1

74.1

70.0

Ash

3.0

2.2

1.1

1.5

Protein

15.4

18.2

17.9

17.7b

12.9

Fat

3.7

2.4

2.8

2.8

5.9

Glycogen

0.4

0.8

1

0.1-0.7

2.4c

Vitamin A

107

51.3

0

Vitamin D

6863

5165

Chitin/fibre

4.1

1.7

a Data corrected for sugar/honey content of analyzed bees,
from Ryan et al., 1983;b Data from Krause an Mahan, 1979;c Total sugars;d Soybean data adapted from Smith and Circle, 1972.

8.3.2
For pollination

In the widest sense, one might consider the pollination benefit for agricultural crops
provided with honeybee colonies as a value added product. Such benefits increase with more
intensive cultivation and more progressive destruction of the natural environment. When
planted in monocultures over large areas, crops that require pollination need managed
populations of pollinators for any significant production of fruits or seeds (see Figure
8.3). Smaller areas of the same crop may not need the introduction of managed colonies. If
they are still surrounded by natural flora, or if alternative floral sources are available
to wild pollinators during most of the year. Selection of varieties, and cultural
practices such as interplanting can reduce "artificial" pollination requirements
for some crops.

Beekeepers in industrialized countries usually charge for pollination services, because
they bring the farmer a significant increase in production, are more work for the
beekeeper and usually do not produce a honey crop while supplying the service. A detailed
discussion of this subject - the different requirements in infrastructure, environment and
agricultural practices - are discussed in another FAO publication (Roubik, 1994).

Figure 8.3: Honeybee colonies, used for pollination,
on the edge of a sunflower field.

8.3.3
As food

Adult and larval honeybees contain reasonable amounts of protein and are non-toxic
(Table 8.1). They could therefore serve as a direct food source once the beekeeper has no
more need for extra bees or brood, or when undesired colonies have to be removed. Honeybee
brood of all ages is eagerly consumed by honey hunters in Africa and Asia and is generally
considered a delicious treat. For several cultures, brood is said to form a considerable
part of the diet (Hill et al., 1984 and Bailey, 1989; as cited in Schmidt and Buchmann,
1992). In China and Japan, drone larvae are canned for export or, after being covered in
chocolate, become a sweet treat. Bee brood is regularly sold alongside honey in markets in
many parts of Asia (Schmidt and Buchmann, 1992).

Whether fresh, boiled or fried, larvae have a rich nutty flavour. When fried, they
maintain their shape and become nice and crunchy. Eating insects in general is considered
normal in many cultures, while others have developed strong inhibitions to this practice.

Development time from egg-laying to the adult larvae is 8 to 9 days. If the larvae are
harvested right after the cells are capped, they will have increased in weight
approximately 1000-fold. The protein content will have increased only slightly less. This
growth rate is not as rapid as that of some fly larvae, but is still much faster than the
growth rate of more traditional protein sources such as cattle or chicken. Many species of
insect larvae are easier to grow, but of all the insects to eat, honeybees probably have
the highest public appeal and are probably more acceptable than, for example fly larvae or
crickets. While it is difficult to imagine that honeybee larvae will become a major source
of protein, they are a special delicacy in some countries and may become so in others.
Additionally, they can be a useful protein supplement in otherwise poor diets. Human
consumption of adult honeybees is uncommon.

If a colony has to be killed, or the death of a colony is detected soon enough and is
not due to pesticides, the fresh or dried bees may replace some of the regular feed for
small mammals, birds, chickens (Witherell, 1975) or pigs (Dietz et al., 1976). The
author has heard testimonies that indicated both the presence and absence of benefits to
poultry. In a similar way, unwanted bees removed from houses or swarm traps may be killed
by overheating in a black plastic bag and be composted, or dried and powdered to feed to
livestock. However, it is not economically feasible to grow bees for this purpose alone.

Mature drone larvae are in general the preferred choice, probably because of their
larger size. In tests with bee larvae as a diet for insect rearing (Coccinellids), frozen
drone larvae appeared to provide a more complete diet than worker larvae (Okada, 1971).
Bee larvae have been shown to be an excellent food source for rearing insects, particular
various beetles and lacewings (Chrysopidae) used for biological pest control (Okada and
Matsuka, 1973; Matsuka et al., 1982 and Hasegawa et al., 1983). All kinds of bee larvae
were suitable for rearing songbirds (Gary et al., 1961; Guss, 1967 and Lanyon and Lanyon,
1969). The feeding of dried A. cerana larvae to queens of the same species seems to
maintain egg-laying, though no long-term tests have been done (Gondal and Hashmi, 1976).
Unfortunately, the data are not sufficient to make any deductions as to whether dried
larvae are as nutritive or stimulative as royal jelly.

The greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella), though not a bee product, is a very
common pest, little appreciated by any beekeeper. It is very easy to raise, however and
its eggs can be readily obtained by any beekeeper. The larvae can be stored alive for over
a year at 15 0C and 60% relative humidity. When deep fried in oil, the larvae
burst and look more like popcorn than insects, which may help in marketing. Simple rearing
instructions and a "popmoth" recipe are included in the recipe section.

8.3.4
As medicine

Italian psychiatrists observed improvements in respect to the appetite, body weight,
hepatic activity, digestion and haemopholetic functions of 15 female psychiatric patients
who were suffering from loss of weight and appetite (Monteverdi and Reitano, 1972).

No other references to any medical tests regarding the consumption or the application
of whole larvae, adults or their extracts are known to the author. Whole-bee extracts have
in the past been used to desensitize people allergic to bee stings, though with unreliable
results. This practice has been discontinued since Hunt et al., (1978) reported that
whole-body extracts are no more effective for desensitization than no treatment at all.
Pure bee venom has now become the standard for immunization therapy. The production of bee
venom from adult bees is covered in Chapter 7.

8.3.5
In cosmetics

During the 1950's, when royal jelly was a "fashionable" product, several
patents were registered for the use of queen larvae in cosmetics. References on the
subject can be found in section 9.5, but no such current use of such applications is
known.

8.4
Collection

8.4.1
Adult bees

Adult bees can be collected regularly from colonies during the growing season by
shaking bees off the brood frames into packages (see Figure 8.4). This practice is
described in all major beekeeping books on Apis mellifera which have a section on
package bee production. Whole businesses have been founded on the production of these
packages for beekeepers, but they also need to have a queen rearing operation, since bees
should not be shipped without a queen. In Canada, a cotton ball wetted with synthetic
queen pheromones has recently been tried successfully as a substitute for a queen, but
this method has not been tested extensively for commercial applications yet.

Package bee production is suitable for areas that have an early flowering season, i.e.
earlier than in the major honey producing areas. Beekeepers have to be willing to pay for
bees and queens and transport has to be safe and quick. The same holds true for production
and sale of nucleus starter hives and whole colonies, except that the sale of these is not
as dependant on early nectar flows. Either are feasible on a large to very small scale.

If a colony has to be removed from a house or other inaccessible place and
is intended for consumption by either human beings or animals, the bees should
be sprayed with a mist of plain water or sugar water so that they are easier
to bag and cannot fly off. Normally, soapy water is used to achieve this effect,
but the soap is difficult to rinse out prior to consumption. They should then
be either frozen or overheated to kill them. For storage and further processing
see section 8.6 and 8.10.

Figure 8.4 : Using a funnel to shake bees into packages in a North American
apiary.

8.4.2
Honeybee larvae

The removal of drone larvae will have less affect on colony performance than the
removal of worker larvae. Though highly seasonal, drone production can be initiated
through feeding and queen selection, and may be promoted further by providing drone size
comb or foundation to the colony. In areas where Varroa is controlled by trapping the
parasite in drone cells and removing the freshly sealed drone brood, the use of these
otherwise discarded larvae may be considered.

Opened or unsealed cells can be shaken and larvae knocked out, but to avoid
breaking the comb, it previously should have been reinforced by wiring. Older,
dark-coloured combs should be selected. Ideally, most of the larvae should be
of similar age. It is easier to use combs which have been sealed for only a
few hours, but larvae should have finished pdupation. The cells are uncapped
with a fine, serrated and preferably warmed knife, and the larvae and pupae
shaken out onto a sheet of paper, aluminum foil, leaf or other clean surface
(see Figure 8.5 to 8.8). If the brood need not be whole, a fork with very long,
fine prongs (as also used for honey uncapping) can be used to uncap and retrieve
the larvae. Since larvae defecate just before pupation, larvae and pupae should
be washed in clean water before further processing. Pupae will have clean, empty
intestines.

Another method (Schmidt and Buchmann, 1992) uses a small jet of water from a laboratory
wash bottle to remove individual larvae from their cells. The author had reasonable
success flooding one side of an uncapped comb. All the cells were filled with clean water,
and then the larvae and pupae were shaken out (see Figure 8.8).

If combs are to be discarded after removal from a house or wild nest, the whole comb
may be squeezed or boiled. The latter works best with new combs, but cells should be
uncapped prior to boiling. The melted wax will harden at the surface and larvae will sink
to the bottom. Some larvae will still have to be removed from older combs and occasionally
from cocoons. The flavour is affected by this method.

8.5
Buying

Before purchasing packaged bees, nuclei or full-size colonies, the buyer should first
check for diseases, know the producer and/or require a health certificate, if appropriate
inspection services are available. It is always risky to bring bees into new areas, no
matter where they come from and how well they have been inspected. Importations of bees
have spread all major diseases and may drastically change the resistance of local bees to
indigenous varieties of disease organisms. Care should be taken that the full strength of
the colony, or the number of bees paid for, is obtained.

When buying brood only, the buyer should make certain that live brood is obtained. The
time between removal of brood from the colony and processing should be minimal, since
unsealed brood away from the colony will soon die and larval protein will decompose very
quickly. Brood should be eaten or processed (boiled, fried or dried) immediately after
harvesting. Combs must not be left in the sun under any circumstances.

For larval processing, a comb should contain newly sealed brood of a uniform age. Both
larvae and pupae are consumed. Whether there are any preferences and significant
nutritional differences, remains unknown. From Table 8.1, it appears that pupae might have
a slightly higher protein content. Though no evaluations are known to the author, the
highest quantitative nutritive value of larvae is likely to be just before and after
metamorphosis into pupae, i.e. a few hours after sealing of the cell.

If processed larvae are bought, it should first be certified that processing was
carried out properly under clean conditions, with fresh larvae. Larvae should preferably
be dried without exposure to sunlight. Indirect solar drying can be used if the
temperature does not exceed 90 0C. Heat lamps and infrared drying will have the
same limitations, but lyophilization will have the least degenerative effect. Particularly
if powdered larvae are purchased, adulteration needs to be checked.

Figure 8.5 : Uncapping of recently sealed brood with a serrated knife.
The comb is reinforced with wire but should be darker, i.e. older, to
prevent breaking during shaking.

Figure 8.7 : Shaking out larvae on to a clean surface works best with
a darkcoloured, wire reinforced comb.

8.6
Storage

Packages of live bees with a queen can be stored for several days more - and up to
several weeks if stored with sufficient ventilation and food. In hot climates, bees need
water and ventilation to stay cool. Overheating is a serious problem than exposure to cold
temperatures. Bees should always have access to sugar syrup or honey. During transport,
packages or colonies should not be left sitting in the sun for any amount of time.
Transport at night is preferable where no other hazards exist.

Live brood should only be stored inside a hive. Sealed brood can also be maintained
(kept alive) in a well regulated incubator, at a temperature of 32°to 35 0C
(90° to 95 0F). Dead brood and bees need to be refrigerated immediately. All
processing should be completed within 24 hours of killing and in hot and humid climates in
less than 6 hours.

Larvae dried at 70° - 75 0C store well in sealed plastic
bags at room temperature. Caramelization starts at higher drying temperatures.
Drying under vacuum or reduced pressure may be advantageous. Deterioration is
significant after 7 months of storage at room temperature, but storage deterioration
over shorter periods has not been reported. Diets of dried, pulverized drone
larvae performed well after storage for 7 months at either - 15~ or 5 0C
and satisfactory after 7 years at 5 0C. Exposure to sunlight
increased the rate of deterioration, as did heating to 1200C (Sakai
et al., 1978). Heating to 900C for 20 minutes had no noticeable deleterious
effect, nor did y-radiation at a level of 2.5-3.5 x 106 rad (Sakai et al., 1978).
This exposure kills many pathogens, including those of AFB. Fried or boiled
larvae should be treated like other protein foods and should be consumed quickly,
since even refrigerated they will keep only for a few days.

Figure 8.8: If brood cells are filled with water, most of the larvae can
be dislodged much easier. This works even better with younger unsealed
brood.

Preservation methods other than freezing and drying include smoking, pickling
and canning. Smoked larvae were found to spoil after a few days unless the larvae
were smoked for at least 12 hours at 60° - 900C and 30% relative
humidity (Hocking and Matsumura, 1960). Pickling in 15 % and 20% salt solutions
was unsatisfactory, mainly because the brood floated in a compact mass on the
surface where decomposition was quiteadvanced after three weeks. Freshly killed
larvae were pickled satisfactorily in a mixture of malt vinegar, whole mixed
spices and 1 % salt. Brandy (alcohol) pickling was very effective with a 1:1
mixture of brandy and brood, changing the brandy after a few days. According
to Hocking and Matsumura (1960) neither of the pickling methods produced a product
of acceptable flavour.

Some of the above preservation methods and recipes described below lend themselves
to canning. Standard canning methods and precautions should be observed.

8.7
Quality control

Quality control of purchased live bees and colonies should follow the guidelines given
in the buying section. Beekeepers should ensure bees are healthy with young fertile
queens.

Since there are no specific quality standards for honeybee larvae, national or
international standards for similar foods should be applied, such as those for canned,
dried or pickled meats. Even chocolate covered larvae are probably better treated as meats
than sweets, because of their high protein content. Local laws and food standards have to
be observed or exceeded. Because of the high protein content and perishability of the
larvae and bees, good hygiene and attention to proper processing and handling conditions
are essential more so than for most other bee products.

8.8
Caution

The greatest threat to live bees and colonies are diseases and overheating, both of
which have to be carefully avoided.

For direct consumption of brood or larvae, care should be taken that no whole bees
(alive or dead) are accidentally eaten, since the sting of even a dead bee can release
venom when chewed. For the same reason, particular care should be taken when handling
freshly frozen bees. Dried adult bees may be pounded or ground to avoid similar problems
with livestock. Once the adults have been boiled or fried, the venom is no longer active.

8.9
Market outlook

As mentioned earlier, packaged bee production can be a considerable income source for
beekeepers, as can the sale of queens, nuclei/starter colonies and full size colonies.
Which of the forms of adult bees are most marketable in a country depends very much on the
type of bees and the kind of beekeeping practised.

Nuclei colonies require frame hive beekeeping in standard sized bee hives. Whole
colonies instead, can be sold in all sorts of traditional bee hives but buying or selling
packaged bees only makes good sense in more intensive, frame hive beekeeping. These
conditions, in addition to beekeepers' attitudes and the profitability of beekeeping vary
too much from country to country to allow any valid generalizations. Markets, however can
be tested easily since small scale sales and production do not require any additional
investments.

For the consumption of larval and adult honeybees as food, specialized markets
may be accessible where, for example, ethnic communities might consume such
foods. Good tasting snacks can be prepared, packaged and sold where no prejudice
exists against the consumption of insect larvae. For example, deep fried, salted
or sweetened larvae can be packaged as special snacks and larvae flour can be
used to enrich wheat flours, but local marketing will be very limited in size
and external markets extremely difficult to reach and develop. The People's
Republic of China, Taiwan and Japan have small local markets and there may be
some trade between these countries (Crane, 1990). Cans of chocolate-covered
honeybee drone larvae may be seen in some specialty Asian food stores in Europe
and the USA, but according to recent enquiries they are rather difficult to
find.

The sale of fresh combs with brood for consumption may be possible in some areas.
Broken combs with brood and some pollen bathed in honey could be sold as a very nutritious
snack in some local markets. The problem is that the removal of brood combs during honey
harvest is destructive and can therefore adversely affect other aspects of beekeeping.

8.10
Recipes

Honeybee larvae or many other insect larvae can be grown cleanly and easily to enrich
staple foods with protein. Many types of insect larvae are eaten in the world and most of
them can substitute for honeybee larvae in the following recipes.

8.10.1
Preparation of mature and immature bees for human consumption

One way to kill adults or larvae is by freezing them, but if a large quantity of adult
bees are placed in a freezer, many of them may still be alive after several days. Bees are
much more sensitive to overheating than to cooling and when placed in the sun inside a
plastic bag, will die within a few minutes. However, they must be removed from the sun as
soon as they are dead since decay will quickly occur. Larvae should be kept alive as long
as possible. Once dead, both larvae and adults need to be processed or eaten immediately
(see also section 8.6).

After killing, and particularly if they have been killed by overheating, bees should be
rinsed in cool, clean water. Once rinsed, they need to be patted dry and either be frozen,
cooked or dried. Even when dead, adult bees can still sting and their venom remains active
so that during washing and subsequent operations, the sting may penetrate the skin and
inject venom. Dried adults should be ground to avoid any dangers of injury from stinging.
The venom remains active after drying or freezing, but is deactivated by cooking or
frying.

Once removed from the combs, the larvae are ready for processing and preservation,
after a short rinse in fresh, clean water (see Figure 8.9).

If larvae are refrigerated immediately, freezing, drying, boiling or frying should be
completed less than 24 hours after collection of larvae to avoid any spoilage since insect
proteins decay much faster than those of beef, chicken, lamb or pork. Where no
refrigeration is available, processing will have to be started immediately after
collection. Cooked larvae or pupae can be preserved by freezing. If there is no freezer or
refrigerator, the boiled larvae should be consumed within a day. Fried larvae will keep a
little longer.

8.10.2
Bakutig traditional recipe from Nepal (Bur2ettg 1990)

Brood combs from traditional honey hunts in Nepal are placed into coarse woven fabric
or bags and squeezed. The resulting juice is collected and heated over a fire while
stirring. The result is described as having a texture similar to that of scrambled eggs
but the flavour should be richer.

Figure 8.9: Bee larvae in a strainer for rinsing.

8.10.3Frozen larvaeg pupae or adults

Fresh and clean larvae, pupae or adults are frozen in small batches or spread on metal
sheets for faster freezing. If plastic bags are used, these should be half filled and
flattened on the freezing trays. In larger scale bulk freezing, and especially with pupae
or larvae that are already dead, the centre of a large volume freezes more slowly, leaving
enough time for larvae or pupae to darken due to oxidation.

8.10.4
Rawg fried and boiled larvae

Honeybee larvae can be consumed like other insect larvae - raw, fried or boiled. The
raw larvae can be chewed while still inside the comb or after removal. Chewing comb which
also contains pollen further increases the nutritional value. The age of the larvae is not
very important, but whiter or newer combs are preferred for chewing.

If skins of larvae are intact after collection, they may be rinsed briefly. Then,
larvae can be boiled for 10 minutes (some people prefer 30 minutes) in salty or spiced
water just like sea food. Once boiled, they can be added to other recipes or eaten as they
are.

Like sea food, larvae may be deep-fried either plain (see Figure 8.10) or after
being rolled in flour or dipped in batter. Deep-fat frying at 1500C
for only 1 minute is sufficient (Hocking and Matsumura, 1960). After one minute,
the larvae should be removed and briskly shaken and drained on a slope, and/or
covered with absorbent material to eliminate some of the excess fat. Frying
in butter results in uneven browning and more broken larvae.

Figure 8.10: Frying bee larvae in oil.

8.10.5
Dried larvae and adults

Larvae and adults may be sun-dried in a solar drier. They should be kept out of direct
sunlight and protected from dust and insects. If the weather is not favourable for quick
drying, the insects may be roasted carefully to avoid deterioration. After drying, they
may be chopped or ground to a powder. The powder may be used to enrich other meals or
flours. If used as an additive to animal feed, they can be added whole. The flavour of
these meals is not affected if the insects are used in moderate quantities.

8.10.6
Basic general recipes

The basic recipes and many of the following ones are adapted from Taylor and Carter's
"Entertaining with Insects " (1976). Some modifications have been included to
adjust the recipes for more general use and for readily-available ingredients. Once
frozen, smoked, dry-roasted, solar-dried, or made into a flour, insects can be
incorporated into basically any other food dish. In any of the dried forms, including the
flour, they can also be readily marketed.

Dry roasted larvae or adults

Spread the cleaned, fresh or frozen insects on paper towels (not newspapers) on a
cookie sheet. Bake at 70°0- 940C for 1-2 hours until the desired state
of dryness is obtained. Check the dryness by attempting to crush the insects with a spoon.

Alternatively, the insects can be roasted in a large frying-pan, pot or metal sheet
over medium heat. If their temperature exceeds 1000C they will caramelize. They
should be stirred frequently to prevent them from burning. A coffee roaster could probably
be used. Drying larvae by smoking did not produce a good, smoky flavour.

Bee flour

Bees should be dry-roasted or sun-dried as above and reduced (in an electric blender)
to a fine powder. For those relying on manual skills, grind or pound until all insects are
reduced to a fine powder. This powder can be further enriched with equally fine ground dry
pollen pellets or can be mixed directly with any other flour, dough, bread, vegetable dish
or soup. It thus remains unnoticeable by taste and texture, but enriches the diet. If kept
dry and packed immediately in plastic bags, it should keep fresh long enough for local
marketing and consumption. Cold storage is recommended and customers should be alerted to
this and its short shelf-life. Do not process or package bee flour during the rainy season
since the flour cannot be kept dry enough.

Basic cooked insects

1 cup

Cleaned bees (adults or larvae)

2 cups

Water

1 teaspoon

Salt

2 dashes

Pepper

1 tablespoon

Butter

½ teaspoon

Sage

2 table spoons

Onions, finely chopped

Quickly brown the onions in the butter or other available fat or oil. Then
add all the other ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or
until tender. The sage can be replaced with other spices such as red peppers
(chili peppers), laurel, thyme, rosemary or curry, according to local taste.
For immediate consumption, boiling for 5 to 10 minutes is sufficient.

Bee stew

Prepare your favourite soup or stew with vegetables and, instead of meat, add a similar
or slightly smaller quantity of whole or crushed insects. The cooking time does not need
to be as long as with meat. Only boil until the vegetables have cooked, because the
insects will be boiled sufficiently after 10 minutes. If you miss the familiar flavour of
meat, add some animal fat or marrow bones - they do not require extra cooking time.

Garlic butter fried bees

¼ cup

Butter or cooking oil

6 cloves

Garlic

1 cup

Cleaned bees (larvae)

Heat the oil or butter over low heat in a frying-pan or pot. Slowly fry
the garlic so that in about 5 minutes it is slightly brown. Add the insects
and continue frying at the same temperature for another 10 to 15 minutes, stirring
occasionally. Do not overheat or the garlic will burn.

The insects can then be included in rotis and tacos, used as condiments with rice and
tortillas or be offered as appetizers (see Figure 8.11). If drained well, they can be
served as snacks at any time or be packaged like nuts.

Figure 8.11 : Honeybee larvae prepared as appetizer
in three different ways (from left to right): fried with garlic, boiled
and fried in oil after covering with flour.

Insect marinade

A marinade can be prepared from a variety of ingredients to give the insects a stronger
and spicier flavour and/or to preserve them for longer.

A very simple but tasty marinade is made of:

1

Large clove of garlic, crushed or minced

1

Dried red pepper (chili pepper) crushed or minced

2 tablesp

Fresh ginger, minced or grated

1 to 1.5 cup liquid

The liquid may be soy sauce with a little sake (rice wine)
or grape wine, salt and lemon juice, or other strongly flavoured juices or extracts with
salt.

2 table spoons

Onions, finely chopped

Once all the ingredients are combined, cover 1 cup of insects with the marinade
and leave it for several hours. The process can be accelerated by simmering
the mix for 20 to 30 minutes over low heat.

To pickle or preserve the insects, use a very thick soy sauce or, prepare a spicy
and/or flavoured vinegar mixture with herbs and spices. Add the raw or cooked insects.
Pickling arvae in vinegar or brandly alone does not produce a pleasant flavour. For
long-term storage, some recipes recommend boiling after marination, others only use
marination. Each region has its own way of pickling vegetables or meats, which can also be
applied to insects. When adding large quantities of insects ensure the vinegar is
concentrated enough and is not excessively diluted by water from the insects blood. Drain
the vinegar after two days and replace it with fresh marinade. Chutney is a form of
pickling where insects can be added, or used to replace one of the other ingredients.

8.10.7
Bee mango chutney

Principal ingredients:

15

Medium size, peeled chopped mangoes

8

Medium size, chopped papayas

1-2 cups

Boiled bee larvae, chopped

To be mixed with:

3 tablespoons

Chopped ginger candied if possible

¾ cup

Chopped citron or other candied fruit

¼ cup

Chopped candied lemon peel or ½ cup chopped, preserved
kumquats

Spice bag:

2

Cinnamon sticks

30

Whole cloves

¾ teaspoon

Coriander seeds

Sweet vinegar:

6 cups

Sugar

4 cups

Cider vinegar

Heat the sweet vinegar to boiling, add the other ingredients including the
spice bag and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the spice bag and pour the boiling
mixture into clean, sterilized jars, seal and continue heating for another 15
minutes in a water bath. when filling the jars leave a few centimetres of empty
space between the chutney and the lid.

Use vinegar of at least 5-6% acetic acid. Other spices such as red peppers,
turmeric or curry may be added. When using other vegetables like tomatoes, apples
or onions, simmer them first for ½ hour in an equal volume of sweet vinegar.

8.10.8
Bee chapattis

1 ½ cups

Flour (all-purpose, white or whole grain from wheat or
other grains)

½ cup

Bee flour (see recipes in 8.10.6)

1 ½ cups

Water

q.s.

Salt, to taste

q.s.

Melted butter, lard or oil

Mix water and flours until a stiff dough is obtained. Add the salt. Knead
the dough until it is smooth. Pinch off pieces of dough and mould into balls
of about 4-5 cm in diameter. Roll each ball in flour and place it on a flour-covered
board. Flatten the balls to approximately 5-6 mm thickness. Heat a large non-greased
frying-pan. Place a flattened ball in the pan and fry for 2 minutes on each
side. Remove the chapatti and apply a little melted butter or oil on each side
and fry until dark brown spots begin to appear on the heated faces.